The MET has a brilliant exhibition up about the Qin and Han dynasties. Especially pertinent was its contemplation of life after death- many of the relics were from burial sites, where these sculptures guarded the deceased. The Qin and Han dynasties believed firmly in the afterlife and in ways, believed in the metaphysical holding on to materiality. I spent this past week quietly contemplating and researching life after death. What is within the spirit world after we no longer have bodies? Why are we so afraid of death? Does it have any meaning, if so, what? The classic existential questions.

Every person who I've met since my awakening who has had a loss, I've felt the energy of a presence guiding them. Our deceased ones never leave us- they only leave us in the form that we know them, but that's only one facet of who they are/were. When my mom passed, I didn't know because I was no longer talking to my family, but I felt it not only in my body but in the air around me. She was with me and I felt her love. Something shifted permanently, and although she's gone, she hasn't left me. They become pure consciousness, energy- they become their spirit. And they're always watching after us until you can meet them again in their pure form. Until then, they visit us in our dreams and meditations.